The Mechanics of Tarot

Creator: Alana Fairchild

Artists: Lunar Sparks, Yuehui Tang, Anna Marine, Monique Tulp; Gracjana Zielinska, Maxine Gadd, Melanie Delon, Babette Van Den Berg

Publisher & Year: Blue Angel Publishing, 2016

 

The Divine Circus Oracle by Alana Fairchild is part whimsical, part mysterious and 100% divine! I was immediately drawn to this deck because I’m one of those people who sometimes daydream about running away to join a travelling circus.

It is, however, not just for those with a circus obsession. This deck will resonant with anyone who’s ever felt overwhelmed by the rat race and yearns to live a life filled with purpose, magic, joy and authenticity. Each card is meant to draw out an aspect of ourselves that feels the need to hide who we truly are in order to fit in. The characters on the cards encourage us to be rebels with a cause and that cause is freedom.

Artwork

One of my most common issues with tarot and oracle decks is the back designs. While the backs don’t make or break my decision to buy a deck, I feel like certain decks put little to no effort in the backs and that irks me a little. So I’m glad to say that I love the back of these cards. It features a red and white tent in the centre with duo colour rays radiating from it. The effect is reminiscent of a traditional circus poster. While simple, it perfectly wraps up the theme and feel of the deck.

The card fronts are created by multiple artists, with some artists contributing to multiple cards. This creates several distinct artistic styles.

While I love the concept of multiple artists, I don’t always love the results. Even if every card is gorgeous in of itself, the deck won’t jibe with me if I don’t get a sense of cohesiveness. Luckily, Divine Circus doesn’t have this problem. Even though some cards are bright and vibrant while others are filled with shadows, all the various styles complement each other. There is a sense of mystery and intensity found in every card and these shared qualities give harmony to the deck. Looking at these characters, even though they are all wild and freakish in their own ways, I can easily imagine them to be members of the same magical travelling circus.

Guidebook

Like any guidebook, this one comes with a few spreads. I usually skip this section as I prefer to use my own but I read through these ones as I was captivated by the spreads’ fun circus names. A one card spread is called a Clown Nose while an inverted pentacle is the Bearded Lady. These names put a childlike grin on my face.

Another fun thing about this guidebook is that every card description comes with an affirmation as well as a ‘healing trick’. Healing tricks are actions that can be taken to help understand the essence of the card. Many of them are light hearted and fun. Some will make you feel downright silly. They are designed to feel like child’s play because when we play, we relax and enter into a positive state of mind. This helps us open our minds and hearts to receive the gifts and messages of the universe.

Overall Impression

One thing that surprised me is that there are a lot less traditional circus characters than I would have thought given the circus theme. Thus, if you are expecting the familiar ring leader, elephant rider and trapeze artist to make an appearance, you may be disappointed. For me, however, the wide array of other worldly characters more than make up for the lack of traditional ones.

Instead of a lion tamer, there is a Rooster Mama. And while there is no knife thrower, there is the Secret of Shinobi card, which features a Ninji Goddess.

There is also your fair share of clowns and jesters. While they aren’t my favourite circus performers, I actually really enjoy their presence in the deck. They all share a similar essence of graceful sadness that is in strike contrast to all the other wild and fantastic characters in this divine company.

I love the theme of this deck and I love the execution. It is beautiful, mysterious, fun and a little eerie at times – all the things that makes circuses so fascinating!

Click here purchase a copy of The Divine circus.

For more information about the creator, visit https://alanafairchild.com.